Casey & Floriana

Casey Affleck was seen with a new girlfriend at the beach and out for coffee in LA a few days ago and he stepped out with her again, arm in arm, yesterday in Malibu, well aware that the paps were on them. She is Floriana Lima, an actress who joined the cast of Supergirl this summer.

As Sarah noted earlier this week Casey is all but assured of a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his work in Manchester By The Sea. His performance is outstanding and he’ll have Matt Damon campaigning on his behalf. And, well, everyone seems to be ignoring those sexual harassment allegations. Sexual harassment allegations can sideline a presidential campaign. But not an Oscar one.

So, given how comfortable Casey and Floriana seem to be in public with each other and in their relationship, will she be with him when Manchester By The Sea moves into the next gear of its Oscar run? The film will be released November 18th. He’s basically given us a month’s notice that there’s someone new in his life. I wonder if they’ll be on the carpet together. And I wonder too how many of his Hollywood friends will turn out, in addition to his brother and Matt Damon, to support him. Like… Joaquin Phoenix, the brother of his ex-wife. Not that Joaquin is any help on the award circuit. Probably the opposite. But they were close. Very close. Still close?